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Chapter 18 Cafe Miel

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Loki sat in the tub and stared thoughtfully at the ceiling. He had been in here already an hour and already had to refill the tub with fresh hot water. Now soaking, enjoying it's warmth engulfing him. His mid section and wrists ached terribly under the heat of the water where the fresh electrical burns where still present. Loki having no magic currently left in which to heal himself. But the waters heat also soothed his tired and achy muscles,so he ignored the latter as much as possible.

It was another hour before he finally emerged from the bathroom, hair and ears still wet, wearing nothing but a loose pair of pants. Thor sat waiting for him on his bed, hands in his lap, most likely he had been in this same position since Loki had shooed him away from the bathroom entrance a couple of hours ago.

"Brother," Thor met his eyes with a grin. "You are looking better."

"Yes," Loki replied leaning against the door frame of the bathroom and gazing wearily at his brother. "Well I don't feel better."

" I am proud of you brother," Thor began enthusiastically despite Loki's impatient stance. "You showed true bravery today in the face of evil. The way you faced down your foes. You were fearless! It felt just like old times! Side by side..brother and brother…together,nothing can stop us!"

"Are you finished then," Loki replied with a dismissing flip of his tail.

"Wha.." Thor asked,his enthusiasm squashed by Loki's apparent lack of kindred feelings.

"You're in my spot." Loki explained flatly.

"Oh," Thor replied getting up and looking behind him at the bed,suddenly brightening up when he thought to himself that Loki's lack of enthusiasm must just be due to his current physical state. "Oh, of course."

He stepped out of the way and Loki glided past, slipping under the cool sheets. A relaxed grin painted his lips as he took in the comfort that only a bed can bring after a long day.

"Rest well my brother," Thor beamed making his way to the door. "When you wake, we will throw a feast in honor of your bravery. We will sing songs and drink ale till we are sodden to the hilt. We will.."

"Will WE be shutting up anytime soon," Loki growled,cutting off Thor's reverie.

"Of course," Thor chuckled not to be put off of the plans streaming through his head about celebrations to come. "Good night my brother."

With that he finally closed the door behind him and left Loki to find sleep. Which to no surprise came shortly after .

OOooOoo

"I can't believe we where so stupid," Tony announced over the desk to where Bruce was working. "Hydra never had a piece of the Tesseract! They wanted Loki all along! And if they got their hands on him..."

Bruce paused,shifting his glasses as he stared through the clear holo-board he was working on at Tony. "Then they could gain access to anyplace in the world." He finished for him.

"Precisely," Tony tipped the end of his pen towards Bruce for emphasis.

"Don't forget," Banner continued. "You two are a package deal."

"Don't remind me," Stark grimaced, rubbing the copper like bracelet absently. "Do you think these things even work? I mean, the guy was under water and from the temperature of that water, it had to have been the Arctic Ocean. Which,I might add, is WELL over 300 yards away by my calculations. You think he could beam him and three other guys there,already being electrocuted, mind you, arrive under some of the iciest waters of the world, continue being electrocuted by these Odin's Cuffs and still have the presence of mind to beam himself all the way back to where he started?"

"Well if so," Bruce returned not convinced himself of Tony's run down of the previous days events . "The guys got a lot more stamina under pressure than most."

"You have no idea," Loki's voice from the doorway caused them both to look up in sudden surprise.

Loki however paid the stares no mind as he shuffled over, ears and tail drooping wearily, to seat himself next to Tony at the desk. Casually he propped his chin up on one elbow and caught Tony with his emerald gaze.

"Hey man, you look like shit," Tony never one for tact stated the obvious. Even though the taller man next to him had showered and changed clothes,he looked worn out and run over at the same time.

"Do I," Loki asked not hiding the sarcasm in his voice. "Because that is literally the exact perfect description for how I feel."

Tony just glanced at him with raised eyebrows. "Then, um, why are you here?"

"You do realize Anthony Stark, that your lab is the perfect distance from my room as to cause these accursed cuffs to hum quite unpleasantly?"

"Is it," Tony replied returning to his work. He knew there was no real threat behind Loki's words, not with how tired the Demi-God still looked. "I had no idea."

"Hmmmm," Loki just let his eyes drop to watch whatever it was Tony was working on, even if his mind wasn't quite awake enough to comprehend it.

"Then why aren't you in the kitchen where everyone else is getting breakfast," Bruce offered.

"It is for precisely that reason that I am not in the kitchen," Loki returned, eyes never leaving Tony's work. "I am in no mood both physically nor mentally to handle one of Thor's "Bro Hugs" as Clint so graciously named them."

Both Tony and Bruce chuckled knowingly at this. They had both on occasion been on the receiving end of one of these rib busting, back cracking 'hugs' and even in good health tried their best to avoid them.

"So," Tony announced swiveling in his chair to fully face the taller man. "By my calculations, you only have 7 of your 9 lives left. You'd better slow down on the heroics there, Top Cat"

His jibe only earned him a half hearted grunt in reply and he reached over and rubbed the Demi Gods head...right between his two droopy feline ears. He didn't really even know why he did it, it just seemed like the thing to do at the time. Loki just ignored the now common place contact.

"Sir, Thor Odinson is on his way down to your lab."

"Oh,speak of the devil," Tony scoffed at the irony. "You'll warn me about Thor but not Loki."

"Loki Odinson did not use the elevator,sir."

He glanced quickly to Loki who just shrugged. Not even bothering to inform the human that even such a small 'jump' had required him to use up nearly all of his depleted magic resources,but still seemed much easier in his current state than walking the all the way to the elevator. So the trade off was worth it.

"Shall I stall him,sir."

"No Jarvis,it's ok," He suddenly got a wicked gleam in his eye as he looked at at the battle worn Asgardian. It would be a rare occasion to see the Demi God this weak and run down again and Tony couldn't help but take advantage of it. He was a Stark after all. "I have an idea."

"Very well sir."Came the AI's almost bored the computer could sigh,it would have.

"OK here's the plan," Tony announced placing his hands on Loki's shoulders to lock his gaze.

"I do not trust your plans, Tony," Loki replied,but too wearily to imply much resistance. "Especially ones where I am involved."

"Tccchhht," Tony scoffed,suddenly a furry of action. "Just keep quiet and play along. I guarantee you Thor will not be able to lay a single finger on you."

"You should not make promises you can not keep," Loki chided but did nothing to stop Tony's actions.

"Oh ye of little faith," Tony retorted as He grabbed the chair Loki was sitting on and rolled it across the lab floor to where there was a circle of blue light imbedded. Loki,for his part, looked only mildly bemused as he grabbed onto the chair to avoid being thrown off balance. Once in the circle he pulled his feet up to sit cross legged so he could prop his elbows on his knees and rest his jaw in his hands. Also pulling up his rather long feline tail to rest in his lap.

Tony stood back to admire his handiwork appreciatively, mainly because he was amazed he had been able to move the Demi-God and chair together without any real protest or backlash from said Demi God. With a quick head shake, Tony moved back to the desk and activated a few buttons. Loki was suddenly encased in a tube of blue light emitted from the circle on the floor. Loki just watched Tony through the light, eyes half lidded,and both Bruce and Tony were taken aback by his total lack of response to the situation.

At that point the elevator dinged, drawing their attention to the door.

"Show time," Tony announced clapping his hands together. "Remember, Just play along." He ended with a small wink to which Loki just rolled his eyes.

"BROTHER!" Thor announced striding straight towards Loki from the doorway. He was quickly intercepted by Tony who stepped in between Thor and the tube of light, both hands placed haltingly on Thor's chest.

"Ah ah ahh," Tony warned, patting Thor's chest briefly and returning to his desk once he knew he had the larger God's often ADD attention. "No touching the subject during the scanning process."

"Scanning," Thor's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he followed Tony over to his desk. "What ever are you scanning my brother for?"

"Well," Tony turned back to Thor adopting a tone as if he were speaking to a small child. "Your…brother…has so graciously agreed to let me scan him for his magic signatures so that I may get a better understanding how your Asgardian magic works."

"Did he now,"Thor asked not quite believing the story himself as he turned to his brother.

Loki glared at Tony with one raised eyebrow,one ear forward and one pinned. Tony pressed a finger to his lips in warning,dropping it quickly as Thor turned back to him.

"Well, I am afraid Anthony Stark," Thor chuckled "That all your trouble will be for naught. My brother is VERY clever and it is likely he only agreed to this "scan" because he knew the Odin's Cuffs suppress all his 'great' magic and his 'little' magic would have all been expended during the battle yesterday. So your computer will not get much information out of him today."

"You know," Tony feigned, adding a theatrical 'aw shucks' snap for good measure. "I never thought of that. Darn, he is a clever one isn't he?" Bruce had to hide his mouth in his hands to suppress his own chuckle. "Welp, nothing to do now,but let the computer run it's course. Once the scan is started, it can not be shut off or the subject moved until it's finished."

He placed one hand on Thor's massive bicep, the other one outstretched towards the door in an obvious sign of ushering him out the door. Thor however, spotted the long leather couch propped against one wall of the lab and veered in that direction instead.

"Well then," He announced plopping himself down instead on the creaky leather. "I shall wait until your scan is finished. How long does this usually take?"

With a sigh Tony turned back to his computer, watching numbers and figures scroll by that only he could understand. "Several hours."

Thor looked grim as he sank back into the couch. They all knew that once Thor had announced he would do something, he meant to stick by his words. Loki shook his head before letting his eyes drift closed. At least he could catch some more sleep,undisturbed this time.

OoooOOo

The cone of light shut off with a loud whirr of energy powering down,waking Thor from his drowse on the couch. Tony turned as well towards the younger sibling, but he didn't stir,not even a twitch of the tail. Thor stood and walked over to his brother, placing a tender hand on his head before scooping him up like a slumbering toddler and returning to the couch,positioning him so that his head now lay on his lap and his long legs lay only slightly bent as he took up the rest of the couch's length. The whole time,Loki never blinked or made a sound.

'That was one tired Asgardian,' Tony thought to himself as he looked upon the pair,suddenly wishing he where in Thor's place instead and quickly pushing the thought from his head. What was that? Sympathy? Empathy?...Sentiment? Oh why did Bruce have to leave him alone with these two to go meet with Fury. He needed somebody else to help distract his mind.

"Was your scan successful,Stark," Thor asked as he gently stroked Loki's head. Almost as though he were petting him.

"Hmmm,what," Tony was suddenly pulled out of his reverie and stared at his computer. "No."

Truth was,it was still tallying the results and would take days before the results where final.

Thor smiled at the reply. "Clever,clever Loki."He almost seemed proud of his little brother and Tony couldn't help but take in how peaceful the pair looked together on the couch. Was this scene played out before back on Asgard? He thought it was likely. From what he had gathered from Thor's tales, they were a lot closer and more physical back wasn't until the battle with Jotenheim that Loki had separated himself, walled himself off from those around him. He briefly wondered how differently would things have been if they had never went to battle that day?

"They where after him you know." Stark continued softly,surprised their conversation wasn't waking the other Demi God. "They want to use his...abilities."

"They would not be the first to try," Thor's response was almost solemn. "And like the others, they will not succeed."

"But if they did."

"They will not Tony Stark," Thor raised his azure gaze to Tony's. "For in doing so, they would endanger your life as well, and Loki would not allow that."

"I...how..," Tony felt suddenly exposed and his face heated up under the other's knowing gaze. Finally clearing his throat he regained some of his composure. "I highly doubt that."

"You do not lie as well as my brother," Thor chuckled in return. "I am a lot more aware of my brother's whereabouts and actions then you know of...man of Iron."

Stark swallowed nervously,suddenly feeling as though he where on the spot. And he wasn't enjoying this spot so much,especially when it was a 6'4" Demi God putting him there.

"And Heimdall has a big mouth," Loki chided,speaking up for the first time,but not opening his eyes or shifting in his position. "Keeps to his own council,indeed."

Thor chuckled openly at this and ruffled his brothers hair roughly, causing Loki to raise his hands to his head in defense. "Oy," He protested,now glaring impatiently up at the taller Asgardian. "Am I not damaged enough already? And Tony! You! You have failed to fulfill your promise."

"No,no," Stark corrected. "I said he wouldn't be able to lay a single finger on you. He is in fact laying all his fingers on you,so I never lied."

"And they say I am the untrustworthy one," Loki returned,closing his eyes as Thor returned to smoothing his hair.

Suddenly a low rumble emitted from his chest, drumming audibly in the quiet lab. Loki opened one eye and raised his eyebrow in disbelief,but the resounding bass continued rising and falling with each breath.

"Seriously?" He shook his head with a sigh as he re closed his eyes.

"Brother," Thor chuckled in disbelief and across the room,Tony couldn't stifle his own laughter at the new function of Loki's current state. "You are purring."

"I assure you it is merely a side affect of my current overtaxed state." Loki replied haughtily as if ignoring the situation would make it go away.

"Of course it is,brother," Thor continued to chortle as he returned to petting Loki gently. "Of course it is."

Tony secretly hoped the younger Demi God was incorrect in his assessment of the new feline ability and couldn't wait to attempt to pull it back out of him during a more...private moment. Also taking a moment to realize how much he preferred Loki's more feline state and hoping the spell didn't wear off too soon .

OooooOOoo

Well, that's a wrap. I'll continue in a series of more individual stories and drabbles of Loki's daily life amongst the Avengers and with future developments with Tony. I wanted to bring in more of a plot,but also want to keep it light and humorous. Also,putting Loki at the need to be 'protected' so to speak from Hydra opens the doors to possible twists in the future. I hope the end didn't feel too rushed,but I also saw this story was getting a lot longer than anticipated. Thanks to all who followed me this far. And I hope to see you in the future. And thanks again to all who left reviews. I am sorry I am so terrible at replying individually,but does not play well with my PC and refreshing 3 times to post one reply gets exhausting and time consuming when there's more chapters to write.